Five finalists in Cartoon Network's Next Big Toon contest

Cartoon Network was flooded with 2.3 lakh entries for its marketing initiative, Next Big Toon. Next Big Toon is a creative contest giving Indian children an opportunity to create their own original cartoon character complete with a name, personality, family, enemies if required, and superpowers if needed.

Abhishek Datta from Kolkata, PP Sai Ram from Secunderabad, and three winners from Mumbai - Deepa V Matprati, Govinda and Rohit Salian - emerged as the five finalists. The five original cartoons created by these kids are Madloo, Terminite, Leo - A Magic Pencil, Compman and Bulby respectively.

A panel consisting of celebrated Indian director, Ashutosh Gowariker, famous ad man, Piyush Pandey, well-known animation producer Ram Mohan and Cartoon Network representatives Ian Diamond and Anshuman Misra judged the cartoon characters sent by Indian kids.

The five finalists will win an HP Pavilion computer each, a special plaque recognising each of the five finalists' as creative 'toon' geniuses and exclusive Network goodies. In addition, a three member Cartoon Network creative services team will travel to meet the five young celebrities to find out more about their lives, their friends, and especially about their original characters. The best entry from these five will be made into an animated short and have the honour of being showcased on Cartoon Network in December 2003.